FROM MINGLEWOOD HALL

Report & Photos by JC Martin @ Octagonside, MemphisMMA.com

V3 Fights were fought in front of a lively, electric and packed crowd at Minglewood Hall Saturday night, September 22. JC Martin of MemphisMMA.com was there to report on the round-by-round action as it played out in front of him at octagonside.

Round 1: It would appear a good portion of the crowd is solidly behind the Hyperblend fighter Josiah Johnson. Johnson with an early triangle choke attempt from his back, but Wilson fights out. Johnson with another triangle attempt from his back, but Wilson drops hard punches and hammerfists and Johnson is out cold!

Two impressive young fighters stole the show from a former 2 time heavyweight champion on a hot and rainy north Mississippi Saturday night. The six fights, dubbed “TNT at the DCC,” featured former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman, but would be remembered for two fighters (one of whom left with a title) that could be future champions themselves.

17-year old Washington D.C.-native Dusty Harrison would display tremendous poise and skill against Welterweight Alphonso Alexander (0-3) in his professional debut. Touted as the youngest professional fighter in the United States, Harrison would immediately win over the slightly wary crowd by not wasting punches in the first round. He wasn’t over-active, but whenever he threw, Harrison landed loud, punishing shots that echoed through the arena and elicited “oohs” from the crowd. Alexander wasn’t impressed, choosing to trash talk his younger opponent throughout the fight. It was an interesting tactic because Harrison seemed to choose a different side of the ring to dominate throughout the fight’s four rounds, while Alexander was little more than a trash-talking heavy bag. Harrison was impressive and the crowd appreciated his efforts, which would result in him taking a unanimous decision, 40-36 on the judges’ scorecards.

A sweltering June night in Memphis was made even hotter by the action in the cage on Saturday night during V3 Fight’s FedExForum debut that featured three championship bouts and an 11-fight card featuring the top local professional MMA fighters.

V3 would crown its first-ever champions in the light heavyweight, lightweight and bantamweight divisions, with two of the bouts not getting out of the 1st round.

Lightweight Tripp Carter would score the most devastating (and
scariest) knockout of the night with a one punch decimation of Steven
Cornelius.

The undefeated Carter would finish the fight in 8 seconds with a right hand that Cornelius and most of the crowd didn’t see coming. Cornelius would hit the ground face first and Carter would land a second right to his prone opponent before referee Dave Ferguson could stop the fight.

Cornelius would be out cold for at least 3 minutes before paramedics would remove him from the ring in a neck brace as a precaution.

Light heavyweight Carlton Little would produce the most action packed first round of the night, starting with his entrance, which featured Memphis rapper Playa Fly, who would then vocally support the fighter to a victory against the undefeated Jaden Booth in a 5-round light
heavyweight bout.

Little, who came into the fight with a record of 6-3, would go on the offensive immediately, power-slamming Booth and nearly locking in a rear naked choke. however, Booth would reverse it and nearly knock in one of his own. However, two takedowns and a powerful ground and pound later, Little would score a technical knockout over his dazed opponent at 2:38 of the first round.

After being crowned the first V3 light heavyweight champion, Little let the crowd know what type of champion he would be. “ I’ll fight whoever they put in front of me,” he said in the cage
after the fight.

The theme of a fighting champion would continue in the main event, a 5- round bantamweight title fight between Cody Lane and Brian Hall. Hall would dominate the fight early and often, scoring multiple takedowns over the course of 3 of the scheduled 5 rounds. Lane would
begin the 3rd round as the aggressor, attempting to lock in his own guillotine choke, but failing to lock his opponent up for good. The fighters would trade holds and grapple to a near stalemate throughout the round. However, at the end of the round, a visibly spent and
frustrated Lane would throw his mouthpiece into the crowd, either as a mistaken sign of elation for finishing the fight, or as a gesture of concession.

During the between round intermission, neither Lane’s corner nor the referee could convince him to continue, resulting in Hall being named the winner by TKO.

After the fight, the soft-spoken Hall was adamant who he wanted his next opponent to be, rising local MMA star Thomas Vasquez, who would make his way to the cage to accept the challenge.

The end of the main event wasn’t a shock, as two preliminary bouts had controversial endings of their own.

Lightweights Ronnie Sharp and Adam Denton would end an entertaining fight with a no-decision, after Round 1 when Sharp would absorb a series of kicks and knees to the midsection and face. It would be a knee to the nose that resulted in the initial stoppage. Despite Sharp
being unable to continue because of a legal blow, the fight would be called a no-decision, much to the chagrin of the sellout crowd. With both fighters entering the fight at 1-0, neither would lose their 0 on this night.

Phillip Price (2-1) and Jimmy White (2-0) would meet at a catchweight of 160, with White playing up the intimidation factor from the moment he stepped into the cage. White would counter everything Price would do for the first round and his aggression would result in another
strange stoppage, after Price complained of being poked in the eye. The fight would be stopped at 40 seconds of the second round, with White winning by TKO.

Muay Thai fighters Derek Jackson and. Marcus Jones would make their pro debuts at a catchweight 140. The fight would go the distance, and both fighters, after a first round filled with nervous energy, would settle in for a rousing start to the night. Jones would win by
unanimous decision.

Light heavyweight Jamie Houston (2-1) would TKO Matt Hill (0-2) in 1:32 of the first round.

Middleweight Patrick Burkett would make an impressive debut against Lenny Edgar at a catchweight of 145 pounds, winning by unanimous decision.

Welterweight Travis Robertson (6-3) would reverse a first round where he was dominated by Jess Brown and score a victory. Robertson, who was immediately taken down by Brown in the first round, would begin the second round with a right hand that would drop his opponent. Robertson would move in for the kill and TKO Brown 40 seconds into the second round.

Robertson gave credit to his opponent after the fight, calling him “a bad a– fighter.” However, he would also promise great things from here on out.

Bantamweights Jessie Parker and Miles Brown would put on an entertaining fight for the 2 minutes it would last, however, their display of sportsmanship and fun after Parker won by arm-bar tap-out would outlast and be more entertaining than the fight itself.

Brown would hoist Parker on his shoulders and parade him around the ring after the fight. Both fighters would leave the crowd excited for the next fight.

Crowd favorite Chantein Wasion (2-1) would bounce back from a loss in his previous fight by dominating Daniel Deossio (2-2) in a lightweight fight.

Wasion would look to end the fight with a rear naked choke early, almost lock in a guillotine choke and finally finish Deossio with a locked in rear naked choke.

There will be a change in the main event of Bad Boy Promotions & Electric Cowboy May 6 “A Night of Knockout Fights” card in Little Rock. Originally we had Bobby Bryant as the main event, but due to some issues with the athletic commission we were unable to get Bobby approved to fight on the card, so we looked to put Justin Ridgway vs. Derek Amos in a cruiserweight bout as the main event, however that fight has been scratched.

The new main event will be Little Rock’s own heavyweight Randy Johnson squaring off with 6’2” 220 lb Nick “Bad News” Brown of Baton Rouge, La. This is a bout where we have 2 big men and can almost assure a devastating knockout; Randy has a record of 3-2 as a professional and has fought out of the ABC Gym for years now and has trained with the likes of Jermaine Taylor, Terry Smith and other pro fighters who have made a name for themselves and fought for world titles which Randy hopes to do some day.

Nick brown on the other hand started his career off with a loss, but is now training out of the Gladiator Gym in Baton Rouge, La and has high hopes of coming away with a victory and turning his career around.

There will be many other exiting bouts on the card as well including undefeated light heavyweight prospect Sherman Guy in the toughest bout of his career against Nashville, TN’s James Jones, we will also see the hard hitting southpaw Hunter Limbaugh from Batesville, Ar and we will see crowd pleasing welterweight Caleb Turpitt out of Sherridan, Ar returning to the ring.

There will be a minimum of six bouts and we will have a special guest from the Contender Season 1 making a special appearance as well. Don’t miss out tickets are now on sale at the Electric Cowboy or by calling (501)562-6000. Must be 21 years or older to enter the Electric Cowboy.

The broadcast included an NABO Lightweight title fight that exceeded expectations and a main event featuring two up and coming heavyweights looking to take their careers to another level in front of a national audience. The undercard featured two former Olympians looking to establish their own young careers. Neither would disappoint against two out-classed opponents.

Heavyweights Tony Thompson (33-2 21 KOs) Owen Beck (29-4 20 KOs) would plod through 4 rounds of a scheduled 10 rounder with Thompson gaining an early advantage he would never relinquish.

Thompson ended the first round dropping Beck with a right-left combination before the end of the round. Thompson would end every round hurting Beck before isolating him on the ropes in the fourth round. To his credit, Beck, who ended the second and third rounds almost going to the wrong corner, wouldn’t go down. But his corner would throw in the towel before their fighter received any serious damage. Thompson would record a TKO at 2:30 of the fourth round.

Lightweights Tyrese Hendrix (18-0-1 17 KOs) and Henry Lundy (17-0 10 KOs) began a fireworks-loaded fight for the vacant NABO Lightweight Title, by knocking each other down with simultaneous hooks. Lundy, would get the better of Hendrix for the majority of the fight, knocking him down a second time in the first round and putting him on the verge of a knockout in the second round. Hendrix, whose speed and power had been previously displayed during bouts in Tunica, had those same attributes negated by the speed and strength of Lundy.

Lundy threw everything he had at Hendrix and may have been frustrated by the fact he couldn’t knock his opponent out. However, Lundy utterly dominated the fight. Hendrix, on the other hand showed that he was more than a power punching fighter, giving as good as he got and possibly stealing one or two later rounds. Lundy would take the fight and the vacant NABO title by unanimous decision, 90-98, 88-100, 88-99. Based on his performance during the fight, Hendrix will have a title in the near future if he keeps performing on the level he showed Friday night.

U.S Olympian Gary Russell Jr. (8-0 5 KOs) would have an impressive showing against journeyman Carlos Diaz (10-22 4 KOs), who he eliminated in 1:32 of the first round. Russell wouldn’t allow Diaz to land anything before disposing of him.

Bahamian Olympic team member Taureano Johnson (1-0 1 KO) would make even quicker work of Ryan Bianchini (0-1) in 43 seconds of the first round.

Heavyweights headline the night in a clash of former World Title challengers in the 10 round Main Event as Washington D.C.’s Tony Thompson 33-2 (21 KO’s) goes toe-to-toe with Nashville, TN’s Owen Beck 29-4 (20 KO’s).

The co-feature of the night is a rare match up of young undefeated prospects. Tyrese Hendrix 18-0-1 (7 KO’s) and Henry Lundy 17-0-1 (10 KO’s) will put it all on the line as they meet for the vacant NABO Lightweight Title.

The six bout card will be rounded off by four extremely well matched bouts. Houston, TX’s Lanard Lane 11-0 (7 KO’s) meets grizzled veteran John Brown 24-17-2 (11 KO’s) of Atlantic City, NJ in an 8 round Jr. Welterweight bout. Also, 2008 United States Olympian Gary Russell Jr. 8-0 (5 KO’s) of Capitol Heights, MD puts his undefeated record on the line against the always tough Carlos Diaz of Dorado, Puerto Rico in a 6 round Featherweight match up. Further, Taureano Johnson 1-0 (1 KO), a member of the 2008 Bahamian Olympic Team, will do battle with Ryan Bianchini in a 4 round Middleweight clash. In addition, on the card is Memphis, TN’s Marlon Lewis 1-1 (1 KO) boxing Chris Gray 1-0 (1 KO) of Batesville, AR in a 4 round Jr. Welterweight bout.

Doors open at 6:00 PM for this tremendous night of live boxing and the first bout will start at 7:00 PM. The ESPN television broadcast will begin at 8:00 PM. All tickets are priced unbelievably low at $15 and seating is first come first serve.